The Proximity Experimentation
by Amie357
Summary: Penny and Sheldon find themselves single and they turn to each other for comfort.
1. Chapter 1

Knock, knock, knock, "Penny."

Knock, knock, knock, "Penny."

Knock, knock, knock, "Penny."

Penny smiled at the door and answered it, knowing exactly who was waiting there. She was faintly surprised that her neighbor, Sheldon Cooper, was knocking at 11am on a work day.

As Penny pulled her door open, her smile fell off her face. Sheldon stood in the doorway, the picture of a troubled man. His hair stuck up in all directions, his clothes were sleep-rumpled, his usually sparkling blue eyes were dull and almost grey.

"Sheldon! What's wrong, sweetie?" Penny said, hearing the concern in her own voice. She stood aside and ushered him inside.

Sheldon sat on her couch, looking at his hands blankly.

"Amy and I have ceased our relationship," Sheldon said quietly, still not looking up at his friend. "More precisely, Amy has ceased our relationship."

"Oh, Sheldon, I'm so sorry. What happened?"

Sheldon took a deep breath and finally forced himself to look up at Penny. "She told me that she needed things I couldn't give her. She told me she had been in receipt of offers from other suitors and had to think about her future. She made several well reasoned arguments..."

Penny's chest tightened with sadness for the man in front of her. He struggled to comprehend complex emotions at the best of times. She hadn't quite realized the depth of his feelings for Amy but looking at how troubled he was it was completely obvious that he had something deep running for her. Sheldon had pushed himself so far out of his comfort zone that perhaps it should have been obvious.

"How are you feeling?" Penny asked. She wasn't quite sure what he would say to that, but she wanted to know what emotions clouded his usually bright blue eyes.

Sheldon's head quirked to the side in surprise. He clearly hadn't anticipated the question.

"I find myself feeling," he paused, looking for the words, "an intense sadness, filled with introspection. I have not left my bedroom until this morning, since it happened. I have been pondering the faults within myself that seemingly led to this point."

Penny's heart pounded. "When did it happen, Sheldon?"

"Thursday night," he said with a hint of shame.

"Thursday? Sheldon!" she admonished. "Why didn't you talk to me, sweetie? I'm here for you!"

Sheldon managed a wan smile. "I know, Penny. I just wanted to gain some perspective. I wanted to understand everything that had occurred before I articulated further. I was also aware that you were working on Friday, Saturday and yesterday. Selfishly, I wanted to wait until I could spend the day with you."

Penny blinked, taking in what he had just said.

"What would you like to do today, sweetie?" She was curious, she had to admit. "Talking? Drinking? Forgetting about it?"

"There was something that I wanted to discuss with you during our time today," Sheldon told her slowly, a little of the sparkle coming back into his eyes. "However, if you would like to wash and dress, I will prepare coffee and lunch at my apartment for a 12noon start. We can start there and possibly go out later if we so desire."

"Okay, Sheldon," Penny said, nodding and rising from her place on her couch.

Sheldon rose and Penny grabbed him, giving him the quickest hug that she could. He didn't complain and gave her a small smile before he left.

Penny didn't move for a moment. She felt a little hurt that Amy hadn't told her about Sheldon. Knowing Leonard was away, Sheldon would be alone and Penny would have wanted a heads up. Not to mention that she had expected to be called in for a girls' night.

She stormed into her bedroom and grabbed her phone from its charger on her nightstand. She dialed Amy's number and waited for the answer.

"Hello?" a deep, manly, heavily accented voice answered.

"Hi, is Amy there?" Penny asked weakly, surprise flooring her.

"No, she's in the shower," he responded, sounding a little sleepy. "May I ask who's calling?"

"It's her friend, Penny," Penny answered, almost on autopilot. A heavy brick of dread settled itself deep in her stomach. "Who are you?" She hoped that her tone was as light and easy as she had tried to force it to be.

"This is her fiancee, Manish," he replied. "Have we met?"

Penny sat, her heart pounding. "I don't think so. How long have you guys been together?" Her voice didn't sound like it belonged to her. Thankfully, it belonged to a casual friend who was cheery and breezy.

"Three months last Thursday. I decided that I wanted to propose when we woke up together Thursday morning."

Penny could barely hear herself over her heart pounding. She managed to exchange light pleasantries on auto-pilot with the man, getting him off the phone quickly. She stared at the phone in her hands, looking at it accusingly.

She rushed to the shower, wanting to get dressed quickly and give herself time to work out exactly what and how she would tell Sheldon. She rushed through her bathroom routine and got out and dressed in record time. She was toweling her hair when she decided that she would try to call Leonard.

As he was away for work, Penny tried to leave him alone as much as possible. She wasn't the clingy type and relied on him calling her when he got the time and had the internet connection. However, today was an emergency.

Penny switched on her laptop and left it booting up while she roughly blow dried her hair. She saw that she was a big fluff ball in the mirror and tried in vain to smooth it down a little. She knew Sheldon wouldn't care and would still go out in public with her, so she abandoned it and returned to her laptop.

Opening Skype, she dialed Leonard. She was looking forward to seeing him as she realized that she hadn't spoken to him in a little over a week.

"Penny, hi," Leonard said, a strange look on his face. Penny thought it looked a little bit like panic.

"Hey Leonard, I'm sorry to disturb you while you're working but I need to talk to you."

"You got my email then? I wasn't expecting you to be up much before noon, but I thought you would probably call."

"What email?" Penny asked, feeling angry and confused.

"Oh..." Leonard looked awkward.

Penny opened her email and, sure enough, there was one waiting from Leonard. It had been sent in the early hours of that morning. She opened it and read it quickly. Her face dropped.

"A dear John email, Leonard? Are you seriously doing this?"


	2. Chapter 2

_"A dear John email, Leonard? Are you seriously doing this?"_

Penny's eyes flashed with rage. The white hot fury was the only thing keeping the tears from falling with full force.

They argued for a few minutes, Penny ascertaining that Leonard had met someone else on his trip. He wanted to 'do the right thing' before he pursued her. Penny wheedled out of him that he had hit send on the email and then fallen directly into bed with the other woman. She berated him, calling him names and telling him exactly how awful he was.

She slammed the laptop shut, picked it up and walked across the hall. She knocked on the door, not quite knowing what to do. She needed to talk to someone and cry her eyes out but Sheldon had his own stuff to deal with. Words were churning around in her head, fragments of her conversation with Leonard colliding with things he had written in his email.

Her chest was heaving and angry tears dropped down her cheeks, dropping hotly on her chest. She didn't quite know she was going to do it until she did, but she gave a scream of frustration and hurled her laptop down the stairs. She watched it bounce down every step and smash into more pieces than she could count. She slid down the wall next to her neighbor's door and sat down with her head in her hands and cried.

Sheldon heard the commotion outside and rushed to see what was happening. He heard Penny's scream and ran the last few feet to the door. He was mid-way through getting dressed after his first shower in days and only had his underwear and hastily fastened robe on.

"Penny?" Sheldon asked looking around, face full of concern. He saw the carcass of her former laptop in the stairwell and grew even more worried. He heard her crying and looked down to see her sitting on the floor. "Penny!"

Penny looked up at him, her face flushed and covered in the tracks of her tears. She babbled nonsensically, finally finishing with a noise that sounded like 'laptop' and pointed at the stairs.

"Go inside, Penny," Sheldon said in the softest voice Penny had ever heard from him. "I'll go and get your laptop and I'll make you a hot beverage."

Penny stood up and walked through the still-open door. Sheldon followed her, quickly grabbing a box to put the laptop fragments into. He dashed down the stairs and picked them all up. It was utterly unsalvageable. He was rather worried about what had led to such an uncharacteristic reaction from his friend.

Sheldon went back inside his apartment and quietly put the box down. He clattered around in the kitchen, making some tea for them both and finally took it over to Penny and sat in his customary spot on the couch.

"Was your laptop functioning at a non-optimum level?" Sheldon asked.

Penny gave a watery, shaky laugh. "I wasn't pissed at the laptop, I was pissed at the things on it."

Sheldon just looked confused.

Penny elaborated, telling her friend pretty much every word that had been written and said by Leonard. Sheldon looked angry and disappointed, mirroring her feelings perfectly - perhaps, she mused as she spoke, his experience had given him more insight than he might care to admit.

When she finished her story, she stopped Sheldon before he started to respond. She told him the reason that she had been calling Leonard. She felt brutal laying it out there, but she knew directness was always appreciated by Sheldon.

She watched every movement, expression and twitch on his face as she told him. Once she had finished, she took a deep, shaky breath. Her own sadness and anger was mirrored in Sheldon's eyes.

"It hurts," Sheldon murmured softly.

"I know, sweetie," Penny said. "I know."

They sat in silence for a moment. Then Sheldon did the last thing that Penny had ever thought that he would do.

He grabbed her tightly in his arms, burying his head in the hair in the crook of her neck. She could feel sobs wracking through him. That made her tears flow again and she wrapped her arms around him. They held each other tightly, feeling like they were drowning together, sobbing fiercely.

At some point, once the rest of the world had disappeared and left just their warm, comforting embrace, Sheldon had pulled Penny out of her seat where she was twisted awkwardly and brought her on to his lap, as close to him as she could possibly be. His hands were buried in her hair. One of hers was on his back and the other was on his neck, stroking the soft hair at the bottom of his hairline comfortingly. She wasn't sure who of the pair of them it soothed more.

Gradually the world came back and the two friends loosened their grip on each other slightly. They weren't quite ready to separate, so they breathed ragged breaths together until they were both a tiny bit less broken hearted. Penny leaned back and looked Sheldon in the eye with a tiny, watery, red-eyed smile.

"Where did you learn to give such good cuddles, Sheldon?" she asked with a hiccup.

"Missy was scared of thunderstorms, so I got a lot of practice making her feel better when we were young. It was the only thing that calmed her down. It always made me feel better too."

"Don't you want to go and bathe in bleach?" Penny wasn't sure why she said it. She didn't want to remind him about how little he wanted to touch usually and break the spell.

"I find myself more concerned with your well-being," he said honestly. "If I am sick later on because we made ourselves feel better then that is a consequence I am willing to bear."

Penny cuddled him again. She wanted to enjoy every second of it before he changed his mind.

"Don't think that this means you can grab me with your man hands whenever the compulsion takes you," he said, muffled by her hair. "This is strictly today only."

Penny giggled softly. "I'll try not to get used to it."

This hug went on for quite some time as well. They both felt a lot better for the simple, comforting contact between good friends. Penny savored the warmth. Leonard had been gone for some time and, while she had always been fine on her own, she had missed the simple warmth of another person.

Sheldon was reminded of a simpler time in his childhood where your troubles were erased by a simple hug. He remembered crawling on his mother's lap after a day of being mercilessly taunted and her softness and kindness would erase his worries for a while.

He had suffered when he was away for his education and hadn't had anyone to take his worries away. So he had turned them all inside. The wariness of germs and obsession with cleanliness had been borne of an education into such matters at too early an age, coupled with the need to be self sufficient. He hadn't thought of it like that until he had needed the comfort.

He hadn't realized he needed this until he reached out and took Penny into his arms.

He relayed his minor epiphany to Penny as he held her in his arms. He felt her squeeze him tightly as he said the final part and took that as acceptance. She pulled back and looked him in the face again.

"You and Amy cuddled, though."

"Correct," he said, nodding with slow consideration. "However, it was to fulfill her own need for physical contact. I would extrapolate that no response was triggered in my own limbic system due to my aforementioned self sufficiency in that regard."

Penny blinked as she translated. "It was for her, not for you?"

"Indeed."

"Do you think this... what we're doing now... is going to change you?"

"I honestly do not know. All I can tell you for certain is that I do not mind you touching me and me touching you at the present moment." Sheldon chewed his bottom lip. Clearly this was not something he had been expecting to discuss.

"May I make a proposal?" Penny asked.

"You may," Sheldon said, his eyes sparkling. "That does not necessarily mean that I will accept it."

Penny took a deep breath. She wasn't sure why the idea had popped into her head. Today was certainly a day for surprises, she thought wryly.

"We've already agreed that we both need a bit of human contact today," Penny began, inexplicably nervous.

"Agreed," Sheldon said, giving her a gentle squeeze that almost made her jump.

"How about we extend it further. I'll push your boundaries from tomorrow onwards. You obviously like it in principle. There's just something in that big old brain of yours that holds you back. Perhaps it's something you'll get used to."

"How would you extend it?" Sheldon seemed genuinely interested in her proposal.

"I hug you as often as I would a best friend, I hold your hand, maybe even a kiss on the cheek every now and then." Her cheeks flushed. Yet another thing she had never expected to be bringing up with Sheldon.

"What if I don't like it?" He looked like a lost little boy and Penny's heart swelled for him.

"You trust me, right?" Her voice was firm and reassuring.

"More so than any of my friends," he said quickly.

"I'm good at reading your cues. If you're uncomfortable, I'll know it. If I miss it, you can tell me. You won't find yourself doing it to please me, understand?"

Sheldon smiled and nodded. "Amy's advances often left me panicky and feeling trapped by expectation and social convention. If it is something that can be done at my own pace with someone I trust, I can see that it may yield a different emotional response."


	3. Chapter 3

The pair spent the afternoon eating ice cream, watching DVDs and talking intermittently about how they were feeling. Penny still couldn't quite believe how _comfortable_ Sheldon appeared to be with her touching him. They were only separated from each other for visits to the bathroom.

When Sheldon had risen to fetch the ice cream, with Penny sliding reluctantly off his lap, they had both noticed that he was only wearing underwear and a robe. Neither mentioned it through furious blushes, but Sheldon did go and put some clothes on.

However, even that didn't break the strange spell that they were both under. He came back and put his arm around Penny, who snuggled into his chest. The evening arrived and Sheldon wordlessly fetched a blanket, which he draped over them both. Despite it being Monday night, they ordered pizza as neither wanted to go outside and that was the only place that delivered.

Penny felt as though she was in a parallel universe. She felt angry and betrayed by Leonard, but somehow all of those feelings were lessened by the man sitting next to her. The comforting warmth of the rare touch that he bestowed just plain made it feel a little better.

They both began to yawn as the evening turned into night.

"I guess I should go," Penny said sadly.

"Thank you for being there for me today, Penny," Sheldon said quietly. "I never thought I'd need something like this."

Penny chuckled softly. "It has felt like alternate dimension Sheldon has been with me. I have to say, it's been really nice. You made me feel so much better. I think if I'd been on my own, I would have drunk myself into a stupor."

"Penny?" Sheldon looked a little unsure of himself and nervous.

"What's up, sweetie?"

"I don't want you to go," he said quietly.

"I don't want to sleep in Leonard's bed," she said with a hint of anger in her voice, which she clamped down quickly. She didn't want Sheldon to think it was aimed his way. "I guess I could stay on the couch if you wanted me to."

"If I could persuade alternate dimension Sheldon to stick around until the morning and promise no 'funny business', would you stay in my room?"

Penny's mouth hung open. Shock didn't even cover it.

"It's most definitely a day of surprises, Sheldon," Penny said with a laugh.

"It was a foolish notion," he mumbled, looking down.

"Did you hear me say no?" Penny amended quickly. Despite her shock, she didn't want to upset him and erase everything that they'd done that day.

"No..." he said hopefully, looking up.

"I'd really like it, so long as you're sure. I love sleepy cuddles!"

Sheldon grinned. "I have a new toothbrush that you can have."

"Thanks, sweetie," Penny said, returning his smile. "Do you have something I can sleep in, or shall I go grab something from across the hall?"

Sheldon stood up, taking Penny's hand in his and they went to his bedroom. He handed her his Flash tee shirt and a toothbrush with a small smile before he left to conduct his nighttime ablutions. Penny's heart fluttered at the sweet gesture and quickly stripped off her clothes and pulled the red shirt over her head.

She couldn't stop grinning. Wearing Sheldon's favorite shirt felt like a hug on its own.

Sheldon finished in the bathroom quickly, swapping with Penny. He changed into his pajamas while she was out of the room and hopped into bed. He had a sudden attack of nerves while he waited for Penny to return, but it was all erased when she bounced brightly into the room and dived straight under the covers.

They got comfortable quickly, which was slightly odd for both parties. Penny had her head on Sheldon's chest and listened to his heart beating steadily below her ear. Sheldon had one arm under her head and the other rested lightly on her waist. He usually slept on his back, but he was curled towards her as she nestled comfortably against him.

They both fell asleep quickly, gentle smiles on their faces.

Sheldon awoke first the next morning. Before his brain engaged, he felt a small bubble of panic rise in his stomach, but as memories of the previous day hit him he felt suddenly glad to have this wonderfully warm woman in his arms.

He looked over to his alarm clock. It was 6.43am, just two minutes before his alarm would sound. He reached over and switched it off quickly and smoothly, not wanting to disturb Penny. He had already arranged to take some time off work and he knew Penny wasn't working until the evening, so he couldn't see the harm in enjoying comfort with his friend.

Sheldon wasn't tired, so he laid with Penny in his arms, lost in thought. He was pondering Amy and Leonard's behavior toward himself and Penny.

He twitched abruptly as a realization hit him. It shook Penny enough to wake her and she blinked sleepily, taking in her surroundings.

"Penny," Sheldon said excitedly. "I've worked something out. It changes everything!"

Penny blinked and wiped the sleep out of her eyes. She smiled drowsily at him and yawned.

"What is it, sweetie?"

"We've both berated ourselves and blamed ourselves for what happened," Sheldon said, almost bouncing as he tried to get his words out as quickly as he could. "While we have some level of culpability in as much as we weren't what our partners needed, nor they for us, neither of us engaged in such an activity."

"If my sleep addled mind translates correctly, you're saying that it wasn't our fault, we didn't force them to cheat on us. You're saying that we weren't the right fit for them, but that's something that should be discussed instead of jumping ship?"

"Got it in one," Sheldon said fiercely, eyes blazing.

"The feelings don't go away overnight," Penny said with a note of caution. "But I think we've both taken quite a quick step towards accepting it."

Sheldon tightened his arms around Penny quickly and unexpectedly. She gave an amused squeak and kissed him on the cheek, burying her fingers in his hair and breathing in deeply with satisfaction. She couldn't believe how much Sheldon was helping her and making her feel better.

"Why didn't we do this every time I had a bad breakup?" Penny murmured.

"Alternate universe Sheldon hadn't arrived," he replied with definite amusement in his voice.

"I could totally get used to that guy," Penny grinned.


	4. Chapter 4

They reluctantly got up and Penny headed across the hall to shower and dress. Sheldon tidied the living room as neither had wanted to separate for long enough the previous day to do it. Once he had finished, he stripped off and got into the shower. As the hot water cleansed his body, he felt a slight pang of sadness that the smell of Penny on him was gone.

That shocked him deeply and he gasped, inhaling some of the water around him. He choked violently, stepping outside the stream to gather his faculties.

Once he had finished showering, he got dressed and began preparing some oatmeal for breakfast. He made coffee for Penny and tea for himself. Penny arrived just as the oatmeal was ready.

"Hey, sweetie," she said brightly. "How you feeling today? Better for a shower?"

"Good morning, Penny," Sheldon replied, giving her a smile. "I found myself slightly reluctant to..." He trailed off, not knowing how to say what he wanted to without things getting strange between them. With his revelation, that was the last thing he wanted.

"Reluctant to what, sweetie?"

"I do not wish to upset you," he said reluctantly.

"Out with it, Sheldon!" she demanded. She couldn't imagine what he was about to say, guessing it would be something about her germs, but steeled herself for the worst.

"I didn't want to wash off the smell of you. It was oddly comforting while you weren't around. It felt like you were with me somehow. I'm being irrational." He couldn't look her in the face. It was not the sort of thing that he had ever said to anyone.

Penny trotted over to him and bundled him in a big, warm hug.

"Sheldon, that's not remotely offensive," she said, with happy tears in her eyes. "That's so sweet! That's how I felt wearing your shirt."

Sheldon felt his stomach tighten with surprise and returned the hug.

They separated and ate their oatmeal together. They sat next to each other, their legs touching, leaning into each other slightly. They were both in shock about how comfortable they were with it and neither questioned it. Even Sheldon decided not to poke and prod how he was feeling and decided to just accept it.

They spent the day much the same as they had spent the previous day, watching DVDs and chatting. They touched constantly, even holding hands at one point. Penny intertwined her fingers with Sheldon's slowly, not wanting to scare him off. Sheldon, on the other hand, rushed to do more and more.

"I thought I was going to have to push you just a little bit, Sheldon," Penny said with a smile.

"I find myself craving your touch," Sheldon said with a grin. "It is most unexpected."

He then proceeded to tell Penny in detail about how the nervous system registers touch and how it translates in the brain. Penny sank into Sheldon as he spoke and found that it was far easier to listen to his lectures when you could feel his words vibrating through his chest. It was mesmerizing.

Penny left it as late as possible before she got ready and left for work. She threw on her uniform and ran out the door. Sheldon, Raj and Howard would be coming for dinner later on, which tempered her reluctance just a little.

The Cheesecake Factory was incredibly busy, more so than usual. However, she kept a constant eye on the door. When the boys finally arrived, she skipped over to them and gave Sheldon a massive hug and a kiss on the cheek. Raj and Howard looked absolutely stunned as they waited for a freak out from Sheldon that never came.

They were even more surprised when Sheldon's arms rose and returned the hug warmly.

Penny left to get them their drinks and they took their seats at their usual table.

"Dude," Raj hissed. "What the hell was that?"

"Since when are you a hugger?" Howard chimed in.

Sheldon shook his head. "I have become accustomed to Penny. With the cessation of my relationship with Amy and Penny's with Leonard, we offered each other support."

"I bet you did, you dirty dog," Howard said with a lascivious grin.

"Howard, must you bring everything back to coitus," Sheldon admonished. "We are simply friends offering support."

Raj went to clap his hand on Sheldon's back, reasoning that the man would not be averse to a touch from another friend. Sheldon froze, shooting Raj a frosty glare. Raj put his hand down immediately.

Wanting to move on quickly to spare himself a lecture, Raj decided to change the subject.

"I can't believe Leonard would do that to Penny," he said.

"He's told us so many times how much he supposedly loves Penny," Howard agreed. "It was a bone head move."

Raj and Howard discussed it at length, but Sheldon remained silent. He watched Penny as she moved around the restaurant. He admired the graceful fluidity of her movement. He smiled as she laughed at a joke from a customer. He cleared tables, brought drinks and food, picked up checks and tips with absolute ease. She moved beautifully.

"Uh, Sheldon?" Howard asked, pulling his friend's attention back to the table. "Are you ok, buddy?"

"He was watching Penny," Raj said, giggling a little. "I think he likes her."

"Of course I like Penny," Sheldon said sharply. "She's been my friend for six years now."

"He means that you like her in a different way," Howard said with a filthy grin. "In a _coital_ way."

With that, Penny arrived at the table with their food order. "Howard, why is it that every time I walk over, you're talking about sex?"

Sheldon blushed furiously.

"I'm a man of urges, Penny," Howard leered.

Penny put the food down in front of her three friends, rolling her eyes at Howard. Before she left the table, she gave Sheldon a squeeze on his shoulder. He looked up and smiled at her, still with a tiny hint of redness in his cheeks.

The boys finished their dinner, beginning a discussion about which Star Trek characters would win in fights against each other. The spirited debate carried them through until their check arrived. They paid, leaving Penny the biggest tip that they thought they could get away with.

As they were leaving, Sheldon told the others that he wanted to stay and wait for Penny's shift to end. They exchanged glances, but didn't say anything until they were out of earshot of even Sheldon's vulcan hearing.

"What the hell is happening, dude?" Raj said the moment they got into Howard's car.

"I know, right? First Amy cheats on Sheldon, then Leonard dumps Penny by email, of all things, then Sheldon and Penny can't keep their hands off each other. Total mind blower."

"I don't think Sheldon and Penny are romantically involved," Raj said slowly. "They just seem to feel better when they touch each other. It's quite sweet."

"It won't be long," Howard said slyly. "Did you see how she was looking at him? I never thought I'd see Penny looking at _Sheldon_ that way."

"Did you see how Sheldon was looking at Penny?" Raj cried. "His robot face has never looked at anyone like that."

The pair shook their heads and carried on in silence, processing the immense amount of information that they had taken in during such a short evening.


	5. Chapter 5

Sheldon sat at the bar, waiting for Penny to finish work. They watched each other, exchanging furtive smiles.

One of the other waitresses caught Penny's arm. "I think the guy at the bar likes you."

"Of course he does," Penny chuckled. "He's my best friend."

"He can't take his eyes off you," she said conspiratorially. "I think your boyfriend might have something to worry about!"

Penny's face dropped and a lump formed in her throat. "We broke up," she whispered. "I don't think he'll care."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Penny!" The waitress looked absolutely devastated. She knew it was recent as they had talked about Leonard on their last shift together.

"You wouldn't have known, sweetie," she said.

Sheldon came over, a look of alarm on his face. "Are you ok, Penny? You looked distressed?"

Penny nodded silently, tears in her eyes and Sheldon bundled her up in a warm hug.

"Hey, Penny," the waitress said. "You take off, I'll cover the last couple of tables for you."

Penny mumbled her thanks and took off with Sheldon quickly. They drove back to their apartment and headed up the stairs together, holding hands. They arrived in the hallway between their apartments, not quite ready to let each other go.

"Can I stay with you again?" Penny asked quietly.

Sheldon wordlessly opened the door and pulled Penny in with him.

XxxxX

Over the next few weeks, Sheldon and Penny were absolutely inseparable. Life gradually returned to normal as they both dealt with their breakups, with one major difference - they spent absolutely every moment when they weren't working together.

Their friends had found it extremely strange at first that Sheldon and Penny kept touching each other, but got used to it quickly. Nobody else was allowed to touch Sheldon, but they were already used to that. The only part they didn't know was that Penny hadn't slept in her own bed since the first night after her breakup.

One Saturday morning, the whole group headed out for a paintball tournament. Sheldon and Penny worked effortlessly together and led the team to victory. They hugged as they jumped up and down, whooping wildly.

Sheldon took Penny's goggles off before he removed his own and dropped them to the ground. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. They were surrounded by an electric silence. Both could hear their hearts pounding in their ears. They moved towards each other slowly. Their lips touched with a tingle, gently brushing and leaving fire in their wake.

Suddenly, their lips were pressed together. It felt as though they were magnetically drawn to each other. They opened their lips and their tongues warred passionately. They clutched at each other desperately, breaking off their kiss with furious blushes as the assembled paintball players cheered.

They headed back home together, holding hands for the entire journey. As they headed up the stairs, they started talking about their glorious victory, laughing and reliving every detail. As they entered Sheldon's apartment, they had reached the part of the story when they had kissed. They both blushed.

"We kissed," Penny stated. "Should we talk about it?"

"It was very pleasant," Sheldon said, smiling.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Penny said, bashing his arm playfully. "Was that a heat of battle kiss or something more?"

"I feel so close to you, Penny," Sheldon said softly, squeezing her hand tightly. "You're so much more than just a friend. I just want to make sure that this extension of intimacy is what we both want."

Penny nodded thoughtfully. "It is certainly a good foundation for a relationship. We're practically a couple anyway. The only thing we don't do is kiss and have sex."

Sheldon's face went tomato red. "We argue a lot," he countered.

"We don't argue, we bicker," Penny said with a grin. "That's totally different."

In answer, Sheldon grabbed her and kissed her hard. His hands grabbed her hair firmly and pulled her body close to his. Penny responded passionately, her hands roaming across his back and up into his hair. She pushed him back towards the couch and they lowered themselves down on to it. Penny was on top of him kissing him fervently and Sheldon was responding to her with equal zeal.

They were interrupted by a cough. Both looked up guiltily to see Leonard surrounded by suitcases.

"Wanna catch me up, Sheldon?" Leonard said, his eyes flashing.

"Not particularly," Sheldon said coolly.

"What the hell, Penny?" Leonard demanded.

"How you can ask me ANYTHING is beyond me," Penny said in a low, dangerous voice.

She got up, grabbed Sheldon's hand and stalked out of the apartment, going into hers and slamming the door shut. Leonard looked after the pair, his mouth wide open. Granted, he thought, he hadn't treated Penny as well as he could have, but Sheldon?

He dumped his suitcases in his bedroom and called Howard and Raj to get a catch up on what he'd missed. Both were decidedly frosty with him, but agreed to meet up with him for dinner in a few hours time. Leonard shook his head and made a beeline for the shower.

He wanted to march over to Penny's apartment and demand some answers when he arrived in the bathroom. Her things were everywhere. Neatly incorporated into the organizational scheme. He wondered how long they had been together and feel some righteous indignation rising up inside him.

He decided that he would head over and challenge the treacherous pair.

He banged on Penny's door. "Open up, Penny. I want to know when you two started this _affair_."

Sheldon ripped the door open, his eyes flashing with fury. Leonard could see Penny sobbing on the couch in the background.

"This so-called affair began around half an hour ago," Sheldon hissed. "It is not your business and I will thank you to leave us in peace."

"Like I believe that," Leonard retorted haughtily. "Penny has practically moved in. Tell me you didn't start up before I left. I dare you."

"Penny was nothing but faithful to you, Leonard," Sheldon boomed. "You're just trying to justify what you did. You won't find any dirt on her, she was the model girlfriend to you."

Leonard felt his resolve falter a little. There was no hint of a lie in Sheldon's face and he had never seen him so apoplectic before.

"Regardless, friends don't date friends' exes," Leonard replied petulantly.

"You ceased to be my friend the moment you treated Penny so terribly," Sheldon spat icily. "You consistently disappoint me with your behavior and I am no longer willing to tolerate it."

"But I..." Leonard floundered.

"Consider this your thirty day notice period, Leonard," Sheldon said, shaking his head. "Now get lost."

Sheldon turned to go back into the apartment, but was stopped by Leonard grabbing his arm. Sheldon saw the punch coming and blocked it. He gave Leonard a back hand slap that sent him sprawling across the floor and slammed the door behind him.

Leonard heard the locks turning and got up, slightly dazed, to go back into his apartment.

Sheldon bundled Penny up in his arms and carried her to her bedroom where he laid next to her and smoothed her hair. He murmured soothing noises to her until she stopped crying.

"Sheldon?" Penny said tremulously. "Thank you for getting Leonard to go."

"I won't have him saying terrible things about you, Penny," Sheldon said, his southern twang coming through. "He gave up any rights that he might have had the second he sent that email."

"I can't believe he tried to punch you," Penny said quietly.

"He obviously has even less intelligence than he professes to," Sheldon said evenly. "You can't get the jump on an angry Texan who spent his whole life dodging punches."

Penny giggled, feeling a bit better. "I know we were kissing earlier and we both want it to lead to more," she began.

"But?"

"But I want to wait until Leonard's out of the picture. He confuses my emotions and I don't want anything we do or don't do to be on his account."

"May I present a counter proposal?" Sheldon said with a grin.

"Sure," Penny said, her chest tight.

"We carry on doing what we were doing before, I don't want that to change. We add dates and kissing, but nothing more."

Penny saw the brightness in his eyes and grinned. "That would be acceptable," she said with a deep, throaty laugh.


	6. Chapter 6

Leonard met up with Raj and Howard in the evening at their local Chinese restaurant. He noticed that Bernadette had come along and steeled himself for the night to go badly.

"Hey guys," he said with a thin smile. "How's it going?"

They all glared at him before greeting him.

"Leonard, about what happened with you and Penny," Howard started a little cagily.

"You were out of order!" Raj interrupted loudly, his courage bolstered by the drink in his hand. "You treated her like crap, dude."

"I know," Leonard replied, looking down. "I just got carried away, you know?"

He was met by stony silence.

"I came back to win her back," he admitted. "But it looks like _Sheldon_ has stolen her from me."

More stony silence. He could see Bernadette twitching, desperate to say something.

"What's up with those two? Sheldon lets people touch him now?" Leonard continued. He knew he was being a bit foolhardy in pushing the matter, but he could see that his friends wouldn't be won over. He may as well get the information he wanted to, he reasoned.

"He helped her mend her broken heart, you ass," Bernadette keened. "He's been a friend to her, when you just threw her away. The only one that's allowed to touch him is Penny because it makes her happy. You're such a-"

"Bernie," Howard said softly, a slight warning in his tone.

"She's practically moved into my apartment," Leonard said, ignoring the jibes from the tiny blonde.

"They spend a lot of time together, dude," Raj interjected. "They make each other feel better."

"Sheldon gave me thirty days to find somewhere else to live," Leonard said sadly.

His three companions managed to wheedle out of him exactly what had precipitated Sheldon giving him notice. Bernadette gaped and stormed out, so Howard followed.

"Dude, you make it really hard to be your friend sometimes," Raj said with a sigh. "Just move out gracefully and give Penny some time to get over it."

Leonard felt ashamed and decided that he shouldn't say anything further.

"I'll talk to Sheldon about swapping with you, if that helps matters," Raj added.

"That would be great, thanks Raj," Leonard muttered. He couldn't help but feel that he'd lost somehow.

XxxxX

"Who was that?" Penny asked Sheldon brightly. They were spending the evening at her place to avoid Leonard. Sheldon had retrieved an overnight bag as they had decided he should sleep over.

"It was Raj," Sheldon said with a small smile. "Seemingly Leonard wanted to meet up with everyone to get the scoop on us and they 'read him the riot act'."

"Glad they have our backs," Penny said, matching his smile.

"Raj proposed that Leonard takes his apartment and moves in with me," Sheldon said slowly, clearly still thinking it over. "It would get things resolved quickly."

"How about Raj moves in here and I take Leonard's old room?" Penny said impetuously, surprising herself a little.

Sheldon's eyes blazed intensely. "You would want to do that?"

"Sweetie, I practically never come home as it is! It makes perfect sense." She was grinning widely.

"I shall call Raj back immediately."

Sheldon paced back and forth in the living room as he relayed the amended plan to his friend. Penny watched how lithely he moved and smiled. She hadn't appreciated how attractive he was until recently.

As he ended the call, Penny could see a look of happiness on his face. "Raj is satisfied with our amended terms. I have proposed that we coordinate our efforts tomorrow to make it go as smoothly as possible. Raj is talking to Leonard."

"Perfect!" Penny said with a beaming smile. She gave Sheldon a long and lingering kiss.

XxxX

Sheldon and Penny woke up early the following morning and began collecting together all of her things within her apartment. Sheldon dashed across the hall to collect some boxes to make the process a little easier.

Penny couldn't help but feel excited. She had felt as though she was in a holding pattern since she had moved into her apartment after Kurt had treated her badly. Her burgeoning relationship with Sheldon has shown her that there is something better out there for her. This felt like a fresh, brighter start somehow.

She sang to herself as she packed away her clothes and shoes in suitcases. In no time at all, her apartment was empty and all of her belongings were piled neatly in the living room of her new apartment. Sheldon helped her to give her old place a thorough cleaning in anticipation of Raj's arrival.

Leonard had passed the open doorway a few times but had thankfully left without saying anything. They headed back across the hallway and cleaned Leonard's room, quickly and efficiently moving Penny's belongings into the room.

They laughed and joked, both feeling light and happy. They decided to change the decor in the room to something that suited Penny a little more the following weekend, so they left anything non-essential in the neatly stacked boxes.

Penny headed into the kitchen to make them some lunch when they heard Raj clattering up the stairs. They both headed down to greet him and helped him to fetch his things from his car. As soon as it was all safely indoors, Penny invited him over to eat which he accepted with an enthusiastic nod.

Sheldon smiled to himself. He had a strong group of friends that he could depend on. He had the deepest connection he could imagine with his best friend and he couldn't wait to see where it led him.


End file.
